XVI.

AMENDMENTS OR
REVISIONS
Sec. 1. Any amendment to, or revision of this
Constitution may be proposed by:
1. The Congress, upon a vote of ¾ of its
members; or
2. A constitutional convention
Sec. 2. Amendments to this Constitution may
likewise be directly proposed by the people
through initiative upon a petition or at least 12 per
centum of the total number of registered voters of
which every legislative district must be
represented by at least 3 per centum of the
registered voters therein. No amendment under
this section shall be authorized within 5 years
following the ratification of this constitution nor
oftener than once every five years thereafter.
IT IS AN ACT OF SOVEREIGNTY.
How are the two (2) distinguished?
One or two specific provision as against a
reexamination of the entire document.
• Parliamentary? Federal? Unicameral?
LAMBINO Petition
• Who can propose amend/revise?
1.Congress, upon ¾ vote of all members
2.Constitutional convention
3.The people through initiative (but only
for amendment) (not more than once
every 5 years)
Limits on the power of the people to change
Constitution through initiative:
1. They can only amend, not revise
2. They cannot do it oftener than once every
5 years
3. There must be an enabling law
Province of Cotabato v. GRP, GR No.
183591, Oct. 14, 2008
All provisions of the MOA-AD in conflict
with the Constitution shall come into force
after the fundamental law has been
amended or revised.
Valid?
• Status of RA 6735?
• Santiago v. COMELEC- 1997
• Lambino v. Comelec – 2006
• 1. You must attach the proposed
amendments.
• 2. Cannot contain more than one subject
Sec. 3. The Congress may, by a vote of 2/3
of all the its members, call a constitutional
convention, or by a vote of all its members,
submit to the electorate the question of
calling such a convention.
• Who can call a Convention?
• 1. Congress, by 2/3 vote of all members
• 2. It can submit the issue to the people by
majority vote of all its members.
When it decides to convert itself into a
Constituent Assembly, what vote is
required?
• How does it convert itself into a Constituent
body?
 How can initiative to amend be done?

1.There must be a petition supported by

12% of the total number of registered
voters
2.Every legislative district must be
represented by at least 3 percent
Sec. 4. Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution
under Sec. 1 hereof, shall be valid when ratified by a
majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite which shall be
held not earlier that 60 days nor later than 90 days after the
approval of such amendment or revision.
Any amendment under Sec. 2 hereof shall be valid when
ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite which
shall be held not earlier than sixty days nor later than
ninety days after the certification by the Commission on
Electiobs of the sufficiency of the petition.
• 1997, No. 20: State the various modes of, and
steps in, revising or amending the Constitution.
• 2004, No. 4: An amendment to or a revision of
the present Constitution may be proposed by a
Constitution Convention or by the Congress upon
a vote of ¾ of all its members. Is there a third
way of proposing revisions of or amendments to
the Constitution? If so how?
• 2001, No. 1: One Senator remarked that the
Supreme Court is a continuing constitutional
convention. Do you agree?
2007, No. 6: True or False –

(a) An amendment to the constitution shall be

valid upon a vote of ¾ of all the members of
the Congress.
• XVIII, 2009
What are the essential elements of a valid
petition for a people's initiative to amend
the 1987 Constitution? Discuss. (2%)
2014, No. 1. With the passage of time, the members of the House of
Representatives increased with the creation of new legislative districts and the
corresponding adjustments in the number of party-list representatives. At a
time when the House membership was already 290, a great number of the
members decided that it was time to propose amendments to the Constitution.
The Senators, however, were cool to the idea. But the members of the House
insisted. They accordingly convened Congress into a constituent assembly in
spite of the opposition of the majority of the members of the Senate. When the
votes were counted, 275 members of the House of Representatives approved
the proposed amendments. Only 10 Senators supported such proposals. The
proponents now claim that the proposals were validly made, since more than
the required three-fourths vote of Congress has been obtained. The 14 Senators
who voted against the proposals claim that the proposals needed not three-
fourths vote of the entire Congress but each house. Since the required number
of votes in the Senate was not obtained, then there could be no valid proposals,
so argued the Senators. Were the proposals validly adopted by Congress? (5%)
2014, No. 2. Several citizens, unhappy with the proliferation of families
dominating the political landscape, decided to take matters into their
own hands. They proposed to come up with a people’s initiative
defining political dynasties. They started a signature campaign for the
purpose of coming up with a petition for that purpose. Some others
expressed misgivings about a people’s initiative for the purpose of
proposing amendments to the Constitution, however. They cited the
Court’s decision in Santiago v. Commission on Elections, 270 SCRA
106 (1997), as authority for their position that there is yet no enabling
law for s uch purpose. On the other hand, there are also those who
claim that the individual votes of the justices in Lambino v.
Commission on Elections, 505 SCRA 160 (2006), mean that
Santiago’s pronouncement has effectively been abandoned. If you
were consulted by those behind the new attempt at a people’s
initiative, how would you advise them? (4%)
• 2017, No. 1. A priority thrust of the
Administration is the change of the form of
government from unitary to federal. The change
can be effected only through constitutional
amendment or revision.
• (a) What are the methods of amending the
Constitution? Explain briefly each method. (3%)
• (b) Cite at least three provisions of the
Constitution that need to be amended or revised to
effect the change from unitary to federal, and
briefly explain why? (3%)